FixerLabs Press Release 01/11/04

SizeFixer SLR Released - Revolutionary Upsizing Software for Digital Photographers

Watford, UK. FixerLabs Ltd. November 1 2004.

FixerLabs announced the launch of their stand-alone software application for increasing the resolution and definition of a digital image at Photokina in October, SizeFixer SLR is now shipping.

SizeFixer SLR has been designed as a tool for the professional photographer. SizeFixer addresses the major area of concern when upsizing: images become soft as size increases. SizeFixer uses a radically different approach to the existing software solutions - it is
the first commercial product to offer genuine super-resolution. For the technically minded: super-resolution correctly extends the Fourier domain content of an image beyond the original Nyquist limit.

Phoenix Global Software Press Release 03/11/04

Phoenix Global Software Announces Release of Namo Interactive WebEditor 6.0 Suite.

London, November 2004, Phoenix Global Software - a leading re-publisher of software - is delighted to announce the release of WebEditor 6.0 Suite from Namo Interactive. Namo WebEditor 6.0 is visually intuitive, web-authoring software that will give the user a complete set of tools to design, set-up and run a cutting-edge Web site with ease.

For end users new to creating Web sites, or for non-professional users needing a Web site up and running quickly who don’t need fine control over site design and structure, WebEditor 6.0 Suite features a ‘Site Wizard’ that creates an entire site automatically. What’s more, it is fast, easy and fun.

DPNow have just reviewed the Vosonic X’S-Drive Pro VP3310, a 9in1 portable storage device with 20GB hard drive or more.

“We measured a transfer rate of just 0.68MB/second from both high-speed or standard compact flash cards. That means a 256MB card of a formatted capacity of 243MB would take six minutes to copy, or nearly 25 minutes for a full 1GB card.

As we found with the IC Drive SD cards copy more quickly, achieving a transfer rate of 0.8MB/second. A full 256MB (243MB formatted) SD card will take five minutes and eight seconds to be copied - almost a minute quicker than a CF card.

This performance is pretty basic and indicates that no bus-optimisation of the interface between the card slots and the hard drive has been implemented. There are faster portable hard drives but they are invariably more expensive.”

Website: DPNow - Vosonic X’S-Drive Pro VP3310 Review

The Danish website Digital Magasinet have published their review of the Canon PowerShot S60, a 5 megapixel digital camera with a wide-angle 28mm-100mm lens and a new thin body.

Website: Digital Magasinet - Canon PowerShot S60 Review

Check the Latest Prices for the Canon PowerShot S60

DigitalCameraInfo have just reviewed the 3-megapixel Nikon Coolpix 3200 compact digital camera.

“There are a few concerns about handling. When extended and engaged, the zoom lens tended to be a perfect place for the fingers of my left hand to rest, potentially obscuring the final image. This is less of a concern when the user is looking at the 1.6-inch LCD screen, as the user can actually see the guilty fingers. However, when using the real-image optical zoom viewfinder, the user is unable to discern whether or not the lens is being masked. Also, the microphone for the camera is located directly behind the shutter button for the camera, potentially recording noise from my fingers rather than the action. This is particularly a drawback in movie mode.”

Website: DigitalCameraInfo - Nikon Coolpix 3200 Review

Check the Latest Prices for the Nikon Coolpix 3200

AgfaPhoto Press Release 03/11/04

Transfer from the Agfa-Gevaert group concluded as planned

Leverkusen, 3rd November 2004 - AgfaPhoto, the new independent company in the world of digital and analog photography, has started its worldwide business operations as planned at the beginning of November 2004. This concludes the transfer of the previous Consumer Imaging (CI) business group of the Agfa-Gevaert group to an independent company with new owners. The turnover of the CI business group last year amounted to ? 870 million. The new company will continue with the previous business units Film/Consumer Products, Finishing and Lab Equipment and further develop them.

AgfaPhoto has taken over the complete assets of the old Agfa CI business group, including all production plant, patents and technological know-how, inventory and accounts receivable, etc.

InterVideo Press Release 03/11/04

Easy-to-use Consumer Movie-Making Software Records to DVD/VCD/SVCD

FREMONT, Calif.—November 3, 2004—From the makers of WinDVD, the world’s ultimate DVD playback, and WinDVD Creator, an easy-to-use DVD and VCD creation software, InterVideo, Inc. (NASDAQ: IVII) announced today the new release of Instant Movie Maker. This simple-to-use video editing and production solution is for people who want to quickly create professional-looking videos of special memories and events.

Designed for ease of use, Instant Movie Maker gives consumers a brand new movie-making experience. From novice users to professionals, Instant Movie Maker can take raw video footage and instantly change it to an entirely new look and feel. With three easy steps, users can create their own movie with various movie clips, audio tracks, and scene transitions. Step one imports media sources such as video or image files, and allows for insertion of the desired background music. In step two, users select one of the twelve preset movie styles. In step three, users specify the output preferences such as DVD, VCD or SVCD, as well as output to the hard drive. Additionally, users can use the preview button to view the movie before it is actually output to the source.

Press Release 03/11/04

Photoshop Elements 3 Book for Digital Photographers Released by Scott Kelby

TAMPA, Fla. - (Business Wire) - Nov. 3, 2004 - Best-selling author Scott Kelby breaks new ground with the release of Photoshop Elements 3 for Digital Photographers. Scott shows digital photographers exactly “how to do it” by sharing inside tips and tips of the trade for correcting, editing, sharpening, retouching, and presenting photos like a pro.

“This amazing book is not a bunch of theory; it doesn’t challenge you to come up with your own settings or figure things out on your own. Instead, it does something that virtually no other Elements book has ever done - it tells you flat-out which settings to use, when to use them, and why. You’ll be absolutely amazed at how easy and effective these techniques are once you know the secrets,” said Scott Kelby, author and editor-in-chief of Photoshop User, Mac Design and Nikon’s Capture User magazines.

Buy Photoshop Elements 3 Book for Digital Photographers from Amazon US for $23.79

Buy Photoshop Elements 3 Book for Digital Photographers from Amazon UK for £26.99

DPNow have just reviewed “Digital Retro” by Gordon Laing, a book that looks back at the emergence of the microcomputer-powered personal computer phenomenon.

“Hang on just a minute! This is a digital photography site, so what’s this all about? A review of a book for ageing computer nerds? Absolutely! I’d bet a fair bit that there are quite a few dpnow readers who fit that description to varying degrees, including yours truly. If you do, then you will love Digital Retro. If you don’t, you might know someone who does - hint: this book would make a great gift.”

Website: DPNow - “Digital Retro” by Gordon Laing Review

PhotoPoints Press Release 03/11/04

PhotoPoints Film and Digital Photography Community Announces Release of ePhotoSites

PhotoPoints (http://www.photopoints.com) is proud to announce the release of ePhotoSites (http://www.ephotosites.com). ePhotoSites allows PhotoPoints members to easily build their own web sites.

(PRWEB) November 3, 2004—“Many of our members have expressed interest in having a more customized gallery. With the release of ePhotoSites we give our members this capability. ePhotoSites is part of their $25.00 annual membership,” says Oscar Meszar, River North Software, LLC Managing Member and Chief Information Architect.

After Mike Johnston’s and Michael Reichmann;s “exchange” about full frame vs APS sized sensors last week, now it’s the turn of Bob Atkins to give his view on the future of the digital SLR.

“What will the DSLR lineup look like in 5 years time? I’m guessing a pro level DSLR, 36x24mm sensor and 24MP, a mid level DSLR 36x24mm sensor with 16MP, a prosumer level DSLR 36x24mm with a 12MP sensor and a consumer level DSLR, which maybe will still have a 22x15mm (APS-C) sensor but with 8MP. Each level will not only have more pixels, but more features, faster frame rates, buffer sizes etc. Prices around $4000-$5000, $2500-$3000, $1200-$1500 and $500-$750 respectively (in terms of 2004 dollars).”

Website: Photo.net - The Future of Digital - Full Frame or APS-C?

The Spanish website quesabesde.com have just reviewed the new 5 megapixel FujiFilm FinePix E510 Zoom.

Website: quesabesde.com- FujiFilm FinePix E510 Zoom Review

Check the Latest Prices for the FujiFilm FinePix E510 Zoom

Luminous Landscape have published a review by fine-art phographer Pete Myers of the unique black and white Kodak DCS 760m digital SLR (yes, black and white, no colour!).

“Its is very sad for me to see yet another flag ship product from Kodak being overlooked and tossed aside in an increasingly desperate corporate attempt to chase pixel counts and price points - and NOT image quality and professional build features. Kodak walked away from professional camera bodies after the DCS 760 series (which were based on the Nikon F5). Then they walked away from medium format backs before they had ever developed a large area sensor to support true medium format work. And now it appears that they have also walked away from DCS monochromes.”

Website: Luminous Landscape - Kodak DCS 760m Review

DPReview have published their review of the 8 megapixel Canon EOS 20D DSLR.

“The real question is how many current digital SLR owners will see real value upgrading to the EOS 20D. It’s certainly a better camera than the 10D (faster, better AF, more features) however when you see side-by-side image comparisons it becomes clear that the increase from six to eight megapixels doesn’t make a very large difference to resolution and for the majority wouldn’t add any more value to their photographs.”

Website: DPReview - Canon EOS 20D Review

Check the Latest Prices for the Canon EOS 20D

Hamrick Software Press Release 01/11/04

Hamrick’s VueScan 8.1.5 now supports entire range of Canon scanners

Phoenix, AZ, November 1, 2004—Hamrick Software, a leading developer of scanning software for consumers and professionals, has released VueScan 8.1.5, its award-winning program that enables users to more easily produce better looking digital images from color snapshots, negatives, slides, and documents.

No other vendor supports all of Canon’s professional and consumer scanner products. VueScan 8.1.5 now supports the following Canon scanners on Windows and Mac OS X:

“Canon scanners are among the worlds’ most widely sold scanners,” noted Ed Hamrick, president of Hamrick Software. “VueScan’s well-known capabilities in producing high-quality scans will complement the high-quality scanner hardware from Canon to produce outstanding results.”

Samsung Camera Press Release 02/11/04

Samsung Adds 6-Megapixel A6 to its Rapidly Growing Digimax Range Of Compact Digital Still Cameras

Secaucus, N.J., (November 1, 2004) - Samsung Camera today announced the launch of the Digimax A6 6-megapixel digital camera. The A6 is the first member of the Digimax “A Series”, and one of several new compact, digital point and shoots introduced in the U.S. market by Samsung in advance of the holiday season. Offering superb image quality, an extremely robust feature set and a highly-intuitive graphical user interface (GUI), the A6 combines all the best features that digital imaging has to offer in a sleek, compact and stylish package. With an approximate street price of just $349, the A6 puts all of these features well within reach of even the most budget conscious consumer this holiday season.

Neat Image Press Release 03/11/04

Finally, Neat Image is available on Mac platform too!

This is the first public release of Neat Image for Mac.

Neat Image for Mac is currently in the stage of active development. We are working hard to provide the Mac version with even more advanced functionality to match that of the original Windows version of Neat Image. The qualit of noise reduction is already as high as in the Window version.

Early adopters of Neat Image /Mac will benefit from the introductory license price (it is temporarily lowered) and will get free upgrade to the next version of Neat Image for Mac.

In their latest article Digital Outback Photo urges everyone to backup their photos, and presents their own specific way of doing this using Wiebetech drive bays and Hitachi disk drives.

“Some people say that disks are getting cheaper and cheaper per GB. True, but the needs for storage grow even more. Here are some of the reasons:

- Cameras have higher pixel count
- Resulting images get stored in 16bit
- Photoshop layers add even on top
- The need to have multiple backup versions of your files

It is very clear that you need external storage disks to handle the flood of images.”

Website: Digital Outback Photo - Backup, Backup, Backup #2

Lastolite Press Release 03/11/04

E Photomaker - Perfect Product Photography Made Easy!

Internet technology has become so accessible to everyday users it has prompted a growing number of people and even budding businesses, to buy and sell items over the internet, for example, on Ebay.  Additionally, many hobbyists like to take photographs to catalogue their collections. However, getting really good product photographs even with the latest digital cameras remains a huge challenge. All too often the results of shooting your product photographs on the kitchen table are poorly exposed, contain shadows or are an inaccurate colour.

According to Sean Henry, Managing Director of Lastolite Limited, “The E Photomaker is the perfect solution for anyone who relies on good images to sell their products”.

Tom’s Hardware have just reviewed the Archos Gmini 400 portable storage device, which amongst other things allows you to view photos (found via digicamera.net).

“To display photos, you just open the appropriate menu. Useful thumbnails let you see the current, previous and next photos, and navigation is simple using folders. The only potential issue is the size of the photos. When copying, the player doesn’t resize the pictures, which is normally what you want. But if they’re too big (from a 5 megapixel camera, for example), it takes time for them to display on the Gmini, and the quality of reproduction on the screen won’t be optimal.”

Website: Tom’s Hardware - Archos Gmini 400 Review